January 2007

Break No Bones

Books in Bed /

I had high hopes for Break No Bones.  Lots of my friends watch that Bones tv show that is based on this series of books (loosely based as sassymonkey explained to me).  I am guessing the tv show is better than the book(s).

Maybe it was the fact that this one was set in Charleston – my home town – that caused me some issues.  I should be glad that the author got so much RIGHT about Charleston.  Often books set in my hometown don’t give an accurate picture, they put streets where they don’t belong, screw up names of businesses or famous places – just weird stuff that isn’t "right".  But there was so much, well, name dropping that it felt like overkill to me. 

By the time we got to the point where Tempe solved the mystery, I was done.  And then the solution – sheesh.  We try to debunk these sorts of myths everyday at work and here we have some silly author writing about _______. (I won’t blow the ending for those who want to read it.)

Anyway.  It wasn’t horrid.  But it wasn’t anywhere close to making it to my favorites list. 

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101 Things Update

101 Things /

Another month slips away without much to show for it – at least from the 101 things perspective.  On other fronts, it’s been quite busy – and almost productive. 

Another book on cd, which I just realized I never blogged.  Someone remind me to do that tomorrow!

I did clean out my feeds but I’m avoiding the blogroll update this month because blogrolls as we know them will change next month.  Total waste of time to do it today.

I TRIED to clean my spurls but that was a no-go due to spam bots hitting spurl.    Bookmarks are going to be saved til next month when I have a nice new tablet to install them on.  Yes you heard me right, I said TABLET!  Heh.

I did download new music.  I can’t actually remember who I downloaded but she’s awesome and I’ll blog about her the next time I open up Napster or sync my iRiver. 

I thought we were going to the ballet but instead we went to see a play.

I think I’m adjusting the Starbucks thing  – we haven’t gone a FULL two weeks without Starbucks but we have skipped 14 days in January.  Actually we’ve skipped more than 21 days in January – and no we didn’t replace it with another coffee house visit.  We’re boycotting!

I’ve convinced Michelle to look at one college that wasn’t on her list and we’ll be at the preview event next month.  Yea!

There you have it – another month, another couple of things scratched off.  Life. 

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Crazyness!

Day to Day /

Life is crazyness, that’s what it is and it’s making me tired!

Jenn’s gone back to college, she got a promotion and suddenly has been put in for another promotion at work.  And, she’s trying to find a new apartment that she can afford, in a decent part of town.  She’s stressed over money and stressed over moving and stressed about life in general.  Crazyness!

Michelle is working as much as ever and going to school and to throw a kink into things, she’s dating again.  Also, her 17th birthday is coming and the possiblity of another teen driver in the household is making some of us a little edgy.  More crazyness!

Christopher is broke and none of us can figure out where his money is going.  He’s working non-stop and he seems to have ditched school again for now.  His car was sick, was repaired and now has come down with some other illness.  He wants to move out, we want him to move out, but again – where is his money going?  And, when is his g/f going to find a job?  Crazyness, extreme crazyness!

Work has slowed a wee bit for me, which is good.  I’m thinking about changing things up, blogging-wise (stay tuned for more on that as the days go by.)  But, work has increased for TW so there’s not really been any down time.  Planning a trip to England in our "spare time" isn’t always the most relaxing or pleasant of experiences.  Crazy!

Life.  Crazy.

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Break No Bones

2007, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery, Women /

I had high hopes for Break No Bones. Lots of my friends watch that Bones tv show that is based on this series of books (loosely based as sassymonkey explained to me). I am guessing the tv show is better than the book(s).

Maybe it was the fact that this one was set in Charleston – my home town – that caused me some issues. I should be glad that the author got so much RIGHT about Charleston. Often books set in my hometown don’t give an accurate picture, they put streets where they don’t belong, screw up names of businesses or famous places – just weird stuff that isn’t “right”. But there was so much, well, name dropping that it felt like overkill to me.

By the time we got to the point where Tempe solved the mystery, I was done. And then the solution – sheesh. We try to debunk these sorts of myths everyday at work and here we have some silly author writing about _______. (I won’t blow the ending for those who want to read it.)

Anyway. It wasn’t horrid. But it wasn’t anywhere close to making it to my favorites list.

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Restless

2007, Fiction /

Restless is a very good spy story. British spy, female, WW2. The story jumps back and forth between the ’30s-’40s and the late ’70s. Manipulating the press in order to manipulate the US into joining the fight against Germany. Intrigue, twists and turns. I liked it very much and I’m really not big on spy novels, usually.

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Twilight

6 Comments / 2007, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Woo! Two vampire novels back to back! Two totally DIFFERENT vampire novels back to back. Two totally different and totally fabulous vampire novels back to back. Life just doesn’t get any better!

Twilight finally made it to the top of my TBR stack. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to get it. I wish I had just bought the darn thing instead of waiting for it to appear on my library reserve shelf. Maybe I’ll go out and buy it today so the kids can read it at their leisure. It’s another one worth having on the colorful library shelves!

And, the sequel, I cannot wait to read the sequel! It’s on the shelf right now – but there are a dozen in front of it… should I let it jump the line and read it right now? What do you think?

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You Suck: A Love Story

2007, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I love Christopher Moore.  I should just stop there and leave it at that.  There’s just nothing else that needs to be said about You Suck.  Christopher Moore wrote it and that should be enough for anyone.  You want more?  OK here’s more….

If you haven’t read Bloodsucking Fiends, then read that first.  Actually, you should read all of the books before this one because there were a ton of "in jokes" that you simply won’t get if you haven’t read a bunch of his other books.  You Suck was written for his long time readers, not for the newbies. 

I loved Abby Normal

"So I like slept til eleven, because we’re on Christmas break, only it’s called winter break now because Jesus is an OPRESSIVE ZOMBIE BASTARD AND WE DO NOT BOW DOWN TO HIS BIRTHDAY! At least not at Allen Ginsberg High School we don’t.  (Go Fighting Beatniks!)"

Heh.

Nope, You Suck was not the best Moore, ever.  But it was awesome Moore just the same.  I want to read it again.  Right now!  And then go back and read all of his other books again!  Oh no! I just realized something – we’re going to have to wait a lifetime for another book!  That’s the only problem with a new Christopher Moore book – waiting for the next one. Darn it.

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Lost to the Patriarchy

4 Comments / Friends & Family, Health and Wellness, News and Politics, Pet Peeves /

I thought for sure my mother was safe.  After almost 25 years of being divorced and a zillion years of living with K and no desire at all to bow to the patriarchy and re-marry, she went and did it.  She snuck off and married K yesterday.

I should have known this was going to happen.  For the last six months she’s been making noises about marriage.  And everytime she made those noises I reminded her of the patriarchy.  I reminded her that if her granddaughters called and said "We’re thinking about getting married for health insurance…" she’d have said "NO! Don’t do it! Bad reason!" 

Bah.

She says she called last week and told me they had decided to do it.  She most certainly did not call me last week and tell me they had decided to do it.  I’d have taken down the pink flamingo flag in front and hung a black mourning flag up instead.  She did call and discuss the pros and cons of marriage with me.  But she did not specifically say "We have decided to tie the knot."

HMPH.  She probably confused me with my damn sister – again.

She also did not tell my brother.  But that is because my damn sister told her that he was off on a cruise.  Not that Mikey would have cared, he is part of the patriarchy after all and he bowed to it himself a few years ago after swearing for all of his adult life that he wasn’t going to get married.

Grrr.  What is it with my siblings who swear they are never going to do this or that and then turn around and do it.  Oh wait, they are their mother’s children – since she always SWORE she would never get married again.

Damn patriarchy.  Damn American healthcare system that encourages marriage in order to solve health insurance coverage issues. 

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Daily Dose of Cupcake Toppers

5 Comments / Cupcake Toppers /

wed45.jpg
**Updated 1/26/7** Yes I’m re-running the wedding cupcake toppers. Tool of the patriarchy and all that goodness. Why am I re-running tools of the patriarchy? Because my mother fell to the lure of the patriarchy yesterday. She and her long-time partner were married. Secretly. Behind my back! (Parents today, can’t do a thing with them!) Darn patriarchy. Many happy returns and all that.

Last week, someone in the comments asked for help finding bride and groom cupcake toppers. Your wish is my command, people. If you need help finding a cupcake topper, post a comment and I’ll track it down. There are a couple of different types of bridal cupcake picks here. Happy wedding.

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The Echo Maker

2007, Fiction /

Sheesh, what a longgggg book. It was only 450 pages but they were longggggggg pages. Dense pages. I skimmed in places. I admit it. The Echo Maker was interesting, it was just long. But I said that, didn’t I?


A guy gets into a car accident. A bad one. Head trauma. He wakes up, slowly starts to recover. But he doesn’t recognize his sister – the only living relative he has – the person closest to him. He says she looks very much like his sister and yes she knows all sorts of things his sister would know but she’s an imposter.


So there’s this dramaaaaaa over him not knowing who she is. On top of the drama that goes along with recovering from a severe head injury. There’s also drama related to the migrating birds and big business doing what big business always does to birds. Also drama related to dysfunctional parents. And on top if it all, we get drama from the mystery surrounding the accident. Just how did it happen? And who left this mysterious note next to his bed on the night of the accident. Drama! Intrigue! But really, err not so much. Obvious, duh.


The superstar neurology guy is interesting. Until the author has him do dumb stuff at the end. Unnecessary. The brain isn’t that complicated or stupid, I could have done without all of that.

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